Hiromiso

Not only is she tri-lingual; English, Korean and Japanese, but she is an amazing cook at 카페 수카라 cafe suッkara- recognising the subtleties and depths of flavours. She also extends these skills to drinks, creating strong, yet delicately spiced beverages such as apple cider and a mulled wine I cannot resist everytime I visit 카페 수카라 cafe suッkara. Hiromi even extends her knowledge to makeoli fermentation, although she tells me she can never wait long enough for it to develop a more deeper flavour before drinking it. A girl who speaks my language!

And as if all this wasn’t enough she even makes her own Miso, and it is without a doubt the best I have ever tasted and challenges all my previous experiences of Miso. These days, nobody is making their own Miso anymore and it is worrying to think that whole generations are becoming accustomed to a heavily processed Miso taste laden with artificial flavours, colourings, MSG and excessive salt. On a recent trip back to her native Japan, Hiromi even made Miso with her mum, teaching her the process for the first time! A similar movement is happening here in Korea, very few people make kimchi these days, however hopefully with the growing resurgence for slow food, this will revert back.

The texture is rugged and chunky and the colour a rich golden brown. The flavour is fresh yet still has enough fermented pungency to create many levels of flavours. It is not too salty to mask the true flavour of the fermented soybeans and it goes without saying, not a hint or even a possibility of any MSG.

So far I’ve used it as (obviously) Miso Soup with wakame and enoki mushrooms, mixed it into a salad dressing, used it in a creamy raw mushroom sesame soup and mixed with brown rice to make nori rolls. It’s so good I think you could even use it as a miso butter/spread, or in place of hummus with vegetable crudites.

Miso Sesame Dressing for a simple salad
Serves: 2

(The dressing is rich and flavourful, so ideal for a green salad)

Ingredients:(Really approximate as I just added a bit of this and that to my liking, do the same depending on whether you like it more sweet, salty or umami)